The weather turned and after a few days of sun we got brave and brought out bathing suits.
We’re anchored off of Ram Island at the mouth of the Mystic River. This is a popular weekend anchorage for people in marinas up the river. Ram Island is private but there’s a small rock island with a beach that appears at low tide. Many kayaks and small boats come here for a stopover. Topaz liked wading here while the girls played in the sand.
These sunny days prompted Genny to break out the wakeboard. It looks like a combination of snowboarding and water skiing.
While in the Virgin Islands Scott got us going on the knee boards. He passed on tips from his water ski experience. Genny wanted to get off her knees and stand up so the wake board was next. The water here is still below 60 degrees so a wet suit is in order for beginners who spend lots of time soaking.
The first day she flopped and fell and struggled getting up for about 4 tries, then after that up she went and I couldn’t shake her loose.
Monday we headed up the Mystic River to Mystic Seaport Museum. The first bridge was a rail bridge that pivoted in the center.
The second is a bascule bridge that has been carrying people and cars across since 1920. This bridge only opens at 20 min before the hour so timing our arrival was important.
The Seaport Museum was just ahead as we arrived. The floating exhibits are docked along the river as well as guest slips. Wild Horses (W-76) and Race Horse (W-37) are W-Class wooden race boats, probably here for the up coming Wooden Boat show next weekend.
Our dock is just ahead past the Joseph Conrad tall ship.
Moored on the museum grounds made it very easy to explore Mystic Seaport’s exhibits.
The exhibits remind me of a seaport version of Colonial Williamsburg. The many buildings displayed exhibits like a sail loft, riggers, nautical instruments and black smiths with demonstrations. The ships also had people explaining how and why things were done on the ships.
This reminded me of a passage in Carry On Mr. Bowditch where he went on errands around the town of Salem and each person thought his contribution to the ship was the most important. In the end, it takes the builders, riggers, sail makers, navigators and many other specialists to prepare a seaworthy vessel.
Near quitting time the musicians would gather at the gazebo for Sea Shanties. The sea shanty is a chanting song to provide the men hauling lines with a rhythm. We learned that a good sea shanty was worth four extra men on a line. Don also explained which instruments were popular on board and a bit of history about the music and songs.
Just before closing Eric and the kids explored a few waterfront exhibits while I walked my Mom back to the boat. Apparently they were so quiet the guards didn’t hear them when it was time to lock the doors. I got security to let them out, and they made friends with the lady who was locked in with them. See you can make friends anywhere.
The exhibits are too numerous to take pictures of and describe. Mystic Seaport also offers a sailing camp where children explore the museum, learn to sail in small boats and sleep on the Conrad for 6 nights.
When we were tired of reading signs and looking at old stuff, there was plenty of opportunity for hands on exploration.
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The museum was very ‘kid friendly’ with very few don’t do this or that signs.
There were shops for them to make boats with hot glue and strips of wood and candle making. Places with games, musical instruments, interactive shows and a planetarium.
At the far end is the shipyard with the Charles W. Morgan getting ready to be launched at the end of July. This is the last wooden whaling ship in a port that was once home to many.
The Whale Trail charity came to mystic with this 6 foot fiberglass Sperm Whale. This same idea has been used in many cities like Buffalo, Henderson , Anchorage , Seattle , Rochester, and the world wide Cow Parade.
It wouldn’t be a post if Roy’s fishing wasn’t included. Here Roy went wild on Blue Crabs.
It was so exciting he had to train assistants. Nannie got the net and Marie was in charge of checking the other lines.
Roy had out a trap and two hand lines. The trap simply lays on the bottom with a bit of bait and every few minutes you pull it up to find crabs hanging onto the bait. The hand lines look like a huge safety pin with a weight. Pin the bait on and lower it to the bottom. The crabs grab onto the bait and won’t let go.
Each crab was measured to be greater than 5″ across and checked for eggs on the females. This crabbing day gave us plenty of lessons learned. Only take the males, not only is this good for maintaining the crab population, but also the males have much more meat on them than females. DON’T let the uncooked crabs freeze, their insides become a runny mess, and in order to keep them alive yet easy to handle, chill but don’t let them soak in ice water.
We steamed our catch 6 at a time in a pot of been and vinegar and generously sprinkled them with Old Bay seasoning.
With the easy access to land came an opportunity to dance around with sparklers. There isn’t much of a chance for wild fires on the east coast. We have plenty of rain, fog, and humidity to keep everything moist, and soggy in some places.
The kids always have their eyes open looking for critters like this praying mantis
How can you go to Mystic without eating at Mystic Pizza? The walls are covered with Mystic memorabilia and the TV at the end of the room continuously runs the movie Mystic Pizza with Julia Roberts. Our surroundings looked nothing like that of the restaurant depicted in the movie, and the waitress said they adopted the catch phrase “a slice of heaven” from the movie. I just read the Wikipedia description and it says that most of the filming was done in Stonington, CT (our next anchorage). Last week when we watched Pete’s Dragon about a lighthouse in Maine, I learned that the lighthouse was actually a movie set in Moro Bay, CA. Leave it to Hollywood to skew reality.
But, Hey, the Pizza was great!
